Saturday, February 11, 2012

Star Wars Death Star Cake

This Death Star Cake was such fun to make that you just won't know when to stop! It is made of Dark Chocolate Mud Cake and filled and covered in Dark Chocolate Ganache then grey Sugar-paste. Use two 8.5" or 9" metal kitchen bowls to bake the cakes.

Dark Chocolate Mud Cake

Ingredients

to fill two 8.5" metal bowls

500g unsalted butter

500g dark chocolate

2 tablespoon instant coffee

2-2/3 cups warm water

3 cups self raising flour

2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

4 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Grease and line base and sides of bowls with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.

2. Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate,
coffee, and water in a saucepan.

5. Bake at 150C for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Test
with skewer. Cool cake in bowls.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

1.2 kg dark chocolate

500ml pure cream

Heat the cream until it just starts to bubble, pour over chocolate (which you have blitzed in the food processor to coffee granules size) and let it sit for about a minute to melt. Use a hand whisk to blend it all together then set aside to cool.

Your ganache at this point will be thin. You will have to let it set overnight until it thickens to a slightly thicker peanut butter consistency. Since I don’t have the patience to wait, I just let it cool to room temperature and then pop it in the fridge (don’t cover because you might get condensation). It would usually set in the fridge in about an hour or two. If it sets too hard, just microwave it in 10 second intervals (keep mixing it whenever you take it out).

If you prefer a really soft filling for your cakes then just whip ½ cup cream and add 2 tbsp of the Ganache and whip a little more. This makes a delicious and easy chocolate mousse.

250-300g pure icing sugar, sifted2-4 drops acetic acid (white vinegar)1 egg whiteBeat icing sugar, acetic acid and egg white with electric beater on medium-high speed for 4 minutes for 'soft peak'. Add extra sugar if the icing is too soft.Achieving the right consistency for Royal Icing can be difficult but practise makes perfect, so if icing is too thick or too thin just empty your piping bag and add more water/vinegar or icing sugar. You will soon work it out. Add black edible colour until the correct shade of grey is achieved. Fill a pipping bag fitted with a number 1 tip.

Step 1. Line tins with greaseproof paper and add a collar of around 20 cms.

Step 2. Bake the cakes and place on 9" round thin cake boards. Fill and cover in ganache using the instructions above. Make sure that the bottom half of the cake has a flat bottom to sit on.

Step 3. Cover with sugar-paste. If you would like to find out how to colour sugarpaste and use it to cover your cake click here

Step 4. Insert 4 thin plastic dowels as shown and one thick one in the middle which will fit over the small wooden dowel which has been inserted into the base board by first drilling a hole in the middle of the board. These plastic dowels can easily be cut with scissors.

Do not assemble the cakes on the base board until all decoration is fully complete.

The dowel in the centre locates into the hollow dowel in the cake base and helps anchor the cake to the board especially if travelling by car.

Step 5. Roll out the dark grey sugar-paste as thin as you can and cut out all the shapes that you think you will need. Glue them onto the cakes with edible glue (or a little water) and pipe with the Royal Icing making up your designs as you go. Use the pictures of the finished Death Star as a guide only.

Step 6. Roll out the black sugar-paste making a little hole in the centre. Slip the hole over the dowel in the centre and cover the cake board. Lift up the sugar-paste and paint on a little water underneath to help the sugar-paste stick to the board.Add a little icing or edible glue around the wooden dowel. Slip the bottom half of the Death Star onto the dowel. To attach the top half of the Death Star apply PVA glue to the cake boards or use a knife to spread on some icing. Make sure the concave circle is facing forward and is centralised.

I usually leave both thin card cake boards in the middle of the cake for 2 reasons..1. When cutting the cake into pieces for your guests, it is easy to separate the cake into 2 halves.2. I insert 4 slim plastic pillars in the bottom half of the 'Death Star' which reach right up to the cake boards in the middle of the cake. This means that the top half is resting on the cake boards which are resting on the pillars which adds stability all round.

Flickr

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About Me

I love creating cakes and cookies but I also like photography and art so I will put a little of everything on here and hope I can create some mini tutorials for you. If I haven't explained something very well just let me know and I will improve on my information.
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